It
doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that with the iPad
selling so well over its opening weekend that we will have loads of
competing tablet computers coming to market very soon. One of the
tablet machines that we heard about back at CES in January was the HP
Slate.

The first glimpse we caught of the Slate is when
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer showed
the device off during his CES keynote speech. Some are already
calling the Slate an iPad killer and whether or not that turns out to
be true remains to be seen. InformationWeek reports
that some of the key
features that users are bemoaning the lack of on the iPad
are front and center on the Slate. Things like support for Flash, a
camera, SD card slot, and USB connectivity are all featured on the
Slate.

InformationWeek also
reports that HP released a video of the Slate in action this week
that was a scant 30 seconds, but offered enough details to stoke some
geek lust in many. The video of the device emphasizes the Windows 7
operating system, which makes the HP Slate much more extendable and
open than the iPad. HP is still mum on when we might expect the Slate
to hit the market, though it is widely expected to land this
fall.

Engadget has
a slick
chart that shows the difference between the key features of
the HP tablet and the iPad. On paper at least it appears that the
Slate has the muscle to defeat the iPad. The HP Slate will reportedly
cost $549, run a 1.63 GHz Atom Z530 processor, and have five hours of
battery life. That is about half the run time that the iPad promises.
The Slate also has a smaller 8.9-inch screen compared to the iPad's
9.7-inch screen and a 1024 x 768 screen resolution.

The
base iPad 16GB model is also about $50 cheaper than the entry-level
HP Slate. The main ingredient that the HP Slate lacks is the might of
the Apple marketing machine and the hoards of fanatically loyal users
that Apple boasts.

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This thing is closer in spirit to a Smartphone. You'll destroy the analogy, I know, but hear me out. How many times do you wake up and need to just check your email at home? Make a blog post from the kitchen or while in bed? Need to lookup some stuff while you're watching TV.

Laptops aren't novel anymore. They're old, clunky, heavy, and need to be plugged in. In lots of houses, they've already replaced desktops because they take up less space, moe than any other reason. There's a segment of folks who do all those things I described on their phone, or at least, they'd like to.

The trouble is that the phone's screen is way too small. The iPad - you can pull up recipes while cooking, you can check IMDB while watching TV, you can read a book in bed without fighting with the spine - the list goes on.

Yes, you can do all this with a Slate, but ehre's where Apple's appeal is. Their apps are completely vetted and user-friendly. It's console vs. PC gaming - sure a PC rocks harder in so many ways, but I can just pop a disc in my xbox 360 and know it's going to work - multiplayer, voice comms, everything. For this type of device, being able to just work and having those apps available, and catalogued, and vetted is the biggest thing.

And spare us the garbage about your G4 or MacBook Pros. This is an iPod Touch on crack - not a computer. THAT is the difference - this isn't a computer. That's not what the targeted market segment wants.

Unless HP can form some response to the apps Apple has, or can somehow stress the ease in which you can perform certain tasks, the only thing it's gonna kill is itself.

It needs to show that it can do everything the iPad can, just as easily, and then some. It'll be a tall order.

For disclosure purposes, I hate the iPhone, and iPods. I own a Zune and a Palm Pre. I love the Zune Software. the only fondness I have for Apple are my memories of playing the Oregon Trail on an Apple IIe in elementary school.

Actually I agree with your post almost entirely. But it only further proves that the iPad is an accessory, not a computer. Even with 64 GB of memory on the high end unit, many people will need a separate device to manage their media collection (especially if they are viewing HD video on the iPad.)

Although it is a wonderful concept of having all your media on the iPad and being able to sync it with iTunes over a wireless connection it simply isn't realistic. This device is a media consumption device that compliments the computer; it does not (and can not) replace the functionality of a computer.

This device (the iPad) must be managed with a computer and thus be tethered to a computer. That is why, in my opinion, this is a computer accessory. This does not mean that it is a bad device, in fact it is probably the best and coolest computer accessory ever devised. It just means that it is far too limited to replace what is typically done with either a desktop or a notebook computer.

I make no presumptions about which device is better, the HP or the iPad. I just felt it necessary to point out that they are two very different product categories.

Note: The term "computer" as I have used it can refer to any Personal Computer running Windows, OSX or Linux. I have intentionally avoided the use of the term PC due to the confusion caused by the Mac vs PC advertisements. Although the iPad is technically a computer, it does not have the functionality typically attributed to a Personal Computer.

Also - to be fair, you cited storage as a limiting factor for the iPad. That point cuts against the Slate, too. I think you'd be doing a long stretch to say something is a 'computer' or 'not a computer' here. There's a spectrum that's being created. And while the iPad sits closer to 'not a computer' than the Slate, the Slate is still a distance from being a 'computer'.

quote: you cited storage as a limiting factor for the iPad. That point cuts against the Slate, too.

Not so. Why? Because the Slate has a USB port that an external hard drive can be connected to. The simple addition of a single USB port allows the HP Tablet to be the hub device, not just the peripheral. Windows 7 is already supported by countless USB devices. Printers, hard drives, optical drives, printers, keyboards, mice, cameras, iPods, and even (ironically) the iPad.

Definitely, even if it is just Atom based, it's still pretty impressive. This is what netbooks should have been. 32gb storage for the same price. Battery life could be better though and the UMA chip will kill any gaming possibilities. Still, I'll be following it closely.